At the presentation of the PS5 Pro, it was confirmed that this console will once again use the Zen 2 CPU, the same one that mounts the PS5. With this decision, Sony repeated the strategy it adopted with the PS4 Pro, a console that also used the AMD Jaguar processor again, the same architecture as the PS4 processor.

The PS4 Pro CPU has retained the architecture and core count, but there has been a significant change in clock frequency, going from 1.6GHz on the PS4 to 2.13GHz 33.10% increase compared to the original console, although due to the low IPC of the Jaguar architecture, its impact on games was not as great as we might think.

Why does the PS5 Pro use the same Zen 2 CPU?

It repeats the architecture for several reasons. The first is a question compatibility and development. If Sony used a CPU with a different architecture, it would complicate things for developers who would have to adapt their games to run well on two different processors. For this reason, Sony did not change the number of cores either.

Second, Sony has retained the Zen 2 architecture cost and space at the silicon level. Using this architecture allows you to reduce the cost of one of the key components of the PS5 Pro, the APU. It’s also crucial in terms of space taken up at the silicon level, as the Zen 2 CPU takes up little space on the wafer, leaving most of it available for the GPU, which is a more important part of the console.

What changes does the PS5 Pro CPU make compared to the PS5?

I have already delved into this topic in the PS5 Pro CPU analysis This uses the same architecture so it has the same CPIthe same amount of L3 cache and the same number of cores and threads, 8 and 16. The only important difference in terms of performance that the processor of the new Sony console has is its working frequency, which can reach 3.85 GHz.

The PS5 CPU runs at 3.5GHz so the difference is the peak speed of 385 MHz. Apparently it doesn’t make a significant difference, although it may help improve frame stability a bit in more CPU-dependent games.

Game performance test

Digital Foundry shared some performance tests using two games that are heavily CPU dependent, Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3. In Cyberpunk 2077, this frequency also allows the console to maintain slightly higher average FPS speeds, but it is not enough for it to achieve a completely stable 60 FPS in performance mode.

In Baldur’s Gate 3, the same story repeats itself. This extra frequency helps the PS5 Pro offer a higher FPS rate, but they also exist in performance mode drops to less than 40 FPS. All in all, the performance of this CPU is significantly lower than that offered by any current lower mid-range CPU, such as the Intel Core i5-12400F.